Expansion plans for Bushmills will bring jobs to distillery

Up to 20 new jobs could be created at the Bushmills distillery as part of a £30 million expansion programme by new owners the Mexican based family business Jose Cuervo.

The firm has lodged a planning application for a new distillery facility it says will “effectively double production capacity,” and turn the famous site into a “world class” facility.

The application also includes details of a new tourism and visitor centre as well as planning for around £3m of capital expenditure at the facility every year for the next 10 -15 years.

The 400-year-old business currently employs around 150 people and is already a significant tourism draw in the area.

The application will now go before the Causeway Coast and Glens Council for consideration.

The development appears to back up the pledge made in November last year when the world’s biggest tequila producer owned by the Beckmann family. Speaking at the time, chief executive Juan Domingo Beckmann described the acquisition as the “most important purchase made by Cuervo in its entire history,” adding “Bushmills Irish Whiskey will be in very safe hands.”